Foot cover



Nov. 20, 1945. I W, E. ROF-UT` JR 2,389,414

FOOT COVER Filed Oct. 8, 1943 INVENTOR /Vllam E. Crofut Jr.

' BY/w me ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 20, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT DFFICE l FOOT COVER.V

William E. Crofut, Jr., Beachwood Village, Ohio Application October 8, 1943, Serial No. 505,431

1 Claim.

This invention relates to foot protecting foot covers adapted to be worn inside shoes to prevent chaflng of the feet against the interior of the shoes.

In my co-pending application, Serial No. 474,- 201, iiled January 30, 1943, now Patent Number 2,339,057, granted January 1, 1944, I have disclosed a foot cover adapted to be concealed within a shoe that has a flimsy body portion of stocking fabric and a heel receiving portion of a fabric that is sufficiently stiif to retain its original shape but flexible enough to conform to the heel of the wearer so that the heel portion of the cover retains its position on the foot of the wearer and serves to prevent the formation of folds or wrinkles inthe iiimsy-body portion of the foot cover.

The present invention has for its object to provide a foot cover of the same character in which the entire foot cover is formed of a stocking fabric and in which the heel portion of the foot cover is stiffened sufficiently to make it form retaining by impregnating the heel portion with a rubbery plastic material and molding the same to provide exible heel seat and counter of the desired shape. l

Reference should be had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification in which:

Figure 1 isa side elevation of a, foot cover embodying the invention.

Figure 2411s the top plan view of the foot cover.

Figure 3 is a view illustrating the manner of applying the plastic material to the fabric to form a molded heel cup.

- Figure 4 is a section taken on the line indicated at 4--4 in Fig. 2.

As shown in the accompanying drawing, the foot cover ofthe present invention has a toe portion Il, a heel portion I2 and a connecting shank I3, all formed of a stretchable stocking fabric which is preferably a knit fabric such as lisle. The heel portion l2 however is stiffened and held to form by means of a rubbery composition that impregnates and coats the fabric. The fabric foot cover is preferably provided with a hem il along its top edge which may have a rubber elastic therein.

Prior to the application of the stiening composition to the heel portion of the foot cover, the foot cover is placed upon a foot shaped form I6 which is of a size such that the fabric is drawn tightly against the surface of the form. The heel portion of the form with the fabric cover thereon is dipped into a solution or emulsion of the plastic composition after which the composition adhering to the fabric is dried while the fabric is held snugly against the form. The dipping and drying operations may be repeated until the body of rubbery material has attained the desired thickness. The drying of the rubbery material against the surface of the form molds the material to the shape of the form and the material has suiilcient stiffness to cause the heel portion of the cover to retain its shape after the cover is removed from the form. If desired the materia1 may be applied by the anodic process in which the form composed of metal is made the anode upon which the material is deposited electrolytically.

The material employed for stiifening the heel portion of the foot cover may be any suitable rubber-like material such as prevulcanized latex or a rubbery resinous material such as an acrylate resin or a resin such as vinyl-acetate, vinylchloride or vinyl-chloracetate plasticized to obtain flexibility. 'I'he stiffening materials so applied and molded provides a form retaining heel that provides an effective anchor for the iiimsy body portion of the cover to hold the same snugly against the foot and prevent creeping or .wrinkling of the stocking fabric within the shoe.

It is to be understood that variations vand modifications of the specic device herein shown.

and described for purposes of illustration, may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

A protective foot cover to be applied to the foot and having a knit body formed to provide heel and toe portions and a relatively narrow shank connecting the heel and toe portions, the heel seat and counter portion being impregnated with a solidified resilient rubber-like material and shaped to provide a form retaining but. resilient heel receiving portion, the shank and the remaining portions being soft and stretchable.

WILLIAME. CROFUT. Jl. 

